Discrete Event Simulation and Optimization Approach for Balancing Usability and Security for Medical Devices in an Integrated Clinical Environment

Integrated clinical environments (ICEs) include medical devices and systems that process, store, and share sensitive data over networks. This requires that security concerns and data privacy be addressed. However, the design of such controls can conflict with the usability of the medical devices, especially in high pressure, time-sensitive conditions such as acute clinical and remote care settings. For multiple team members, patients, devices, and locations, it is difficult to gauge how different configurations of security controls impact the safety, usability, and workflow of the system. There is a great need for computerized workflow models that represent complex clinical scenarios which may be used to analyze the impact of security controls on medical device systems while balancing usability concerns and minimizing impact on clinical workflow. Design Interactive, Inc. (DI) proposes to develop the Security and Usability Model for Devices in an Integrated Clinical Environment (SUM-DEVICE) System, which allows interactive exploration of performance of a simulation model for a clinical workflow scenario using multiple medical devices with an array of possible security mechanisms that can be selected. Performance of the simulation is then measured using a set of metrics to evaluate security, usability, and workflow in a given run of the simulation.